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Game of Thrones Season 4 Scene of the Week: What Makes A Good King?

For what was supposed to be a “catch your breath” episode after the glorious death of King Joffrey last week, Breaker of Chains providd some meaty moments. From Dany rolling into Mereen like she owned the place to Arya and The Hound rolling a poor single father for his cash to The Wildlings ransacking villages to Stannis’ Secret Small Council of Shireen & Davos coming up with an idea to get funding for their king to Littlefinger making his move. And I am not even going to touch that Jaime/Cersei scene with a ten foot pole. My favorite scene was the beginning of Tywin spending some quality time with his new favorite family member.

Your brother was not a wise king, he was not a good king, if he was he would still be alive

With those words Tywin cemented his standing as not only the coldest guy in King’s Landing but also as my favorite character in this past week’s episode. Tywin completely dismissed Cersei’s pain over the murder of her son (Tywin’s grandson, mind you) and dove right into establishing his control over the soon-to-be new King Tommen. Tywin is nothing if not pragmatic and he immediately realized that the opportunity to have a much more malleable ruler in his back pocket was more important than faking grief over the dead carcass of a grandchild that Tywin most likely had no real use for in the grand scheme of things
And the best part was that he did it right in front of Cersei despite her protestations that it wasn’t the time. I really can’t find it in me to feel anything but glee at her pain because she is just the worst Lannister left alive now that Joffrey is a stiff. Even Tywin, for all of his imperiousness and ruthless nature, is smart enough to not be a petty vindictive asshat. He also sees that in Tommen he has the perfect vehicle for bringing some stability to the realm because aside from Tommen being a pretty normal kid he is also more likely to do what Tywin tells him to do. For however long the kid actually sits on the throne.